School Bus
News You Can Use - Fall 2022
Unintentional injuries are the number one cause of death among children ages 19 and under in the United States. Each year one out of every four children needs medical attention for an accidental injury. Most of these unintentional injuries and deaths are preventable.

This newsletter is filled with resources and information to help keep your family safe this time of year.

When the red lights are flashing and the stop sign is out you must STOP no matter what direction you are going.

This helps create a crosswalk for the students exiting the bus to cross safely.
Thank you, Hugo's Family Marketplace
This past winter, Hugo’s Family Marketplace locations in Grand Forks and our Safe Kids service area hosted a two week “scan at the till” campaign to raise money to support our injury prevention work. Recently, Jeff Westrem, the HR Director for Hugo’s came by and presented us with a check on behalf of Hugo’s Family Marketplace. We are so grateful to all the people that donated money on our behalf at the till and also to Hugo’s who kicked in funding to bring our total donation to $10,000. We are blessed to have such kind and generous people in our community and thank all who donated toward this successful effort.
Child Passenger Safety Technician Courses
Our Safe Kids Grand Forks office was busy this summer with teaching classes to gain new car seat technicians in our area. Tina and Amy, from our office, became instructors to help Jasmine with teaching the 4 day class. They also received help from instructors out of Fargo and Park Rapids.
They taught 2 classes in East Grand Forks and 1 in Bemidji and have another in the works for Fergus Falls in November. Between the 3 courses this summer they trained 41 new car seats techs from almost all corners of North Dakota and Minnesota.
If you are interested in becoming a car seat tech or would like more information, please contact our Safe Kids Grand Forks office at safekids@altru.org or 701.780.1489.
Featured Car Seat - Century Carry On 35
Sized for infants from 4-35 pounds to ride rear-facing, the Century Carry On 35 Lightweight Infant Car Seat is part of the Happy Planet Collection, with fabrics made from recycled materials. That's part of the Do More promise to Recycle, Reimagine, and Give Back. And, Century KeepSafe means this sleek and comfy seat is designed and tested to help provide safe and secure protection so you can focus on the road ahead.

Parents are Warned not to Rush Booster Seats

During National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 18-24, 2022, the North Dakota Department of Health and Department of Human Services, in partnership with Vision Zero, warns parents and caregivers not to transition their children from a belt positioning booster seat to just a seat belt too early. Children who use a booster seat in the back seat of the car are 45% less likely to be injured in a crash than children who use only a seat belt.
All children who outgrow their forward-facing car seat should use a booster until the seat belt fits properly, which is typically when they have reached 4-feet-9-inches in height and are 8-12 years of age. Most children will not fit in vehicle seat belts without a booster until 10-12 years of age.

Our partners at Grand Forks County Public Health are hosting a Bike or Walk to School Challenge to promote healthy outdoor activity. Several Grand Forks Schools are planning to participate, including Discovery, Kelly, Winship, Ben Franklin, Century, Lake Agassiz, Lewis and Clark, and Phoenix.

The 4th and 5th graders at each of these schools are invited to either bike or walk to school from September 12 - 23 and report to their teacher each day that they do. At the end of the challenge, the classes that have the most participation days win prizes.
Families can get in on this challenge--all you need to do is encourage your student to walk or bike to school those days! If you can, walk or bike with them. Even if you live far from the school’s property, you can drive to a point nearby the school and let your student walk the rest of the way! Remember, if kids are biking to school, we encourage them to wear a helmet. To obtain one, contact our office at 701.780.1489.

We want to thank our partners at Grand Forks County Public Health for continuing to include us in their amazing programming and for promoting bike and pedestrian safety in our communities!
Safety On Wheels
If you are a third grader in Grand Forks you will likely become an expert in helmet safety this fall! Staff and community partners have been visiting our third grade classes in the Grand Forks Public Schools to share the reasons behind helmet use.

Why don’t you wear a helmet? That is the question we always ask, and students have all sorts of reasons: it doesn’t fit anymore (Good thing we are here today. Let’s fit you for a new one!); I’m a really, really good bike rider/skateboarder (So are Olympic bicyclists and skateboarders. But what do they always put on? That’s right, a helmet!); I’m not going that far, so I don’t need to wear one (But do we know when we will be in a crash?); they’re not cool, or they would mess up my hair (I think keeping my brain safety is pretty cool, and scars would mess up my hair way worse!). We discuss brain anatomy, and list all the things our brain helps us to do. Then we talk about choosing the right helmet that fits, because we know if a helmet is too small it will be uncomfortable, and if it’s too big, it won’t stay put and protect our brain.

This program is brought to our communities through an amazing partnership with the Grand Forks Park District, the Optimist Club, North Dakota Brain Injury Network and Grand Forks Public Schools. Once we present to the third graders, the entire student body (and even the staff!) have the opportunity to purchase a helmet from us and have it perfectly adjusted to them, learning along the way how to know a helmet fits.
Once our schools have participated in Safety on Wheels, our Optimist Club members offer a bike rodeo so the third graders can learn good bike riding skills. This is an amazing program and we are so honored to be able to offer it each year. Children learn how to signal turns and stops, their bikes are inspected for safety and maintenance issues and helmet use is reinforced.
For more information about Safety on Wheels, or if you would like to purchase a helmet, contact Tina at cesanders@altru.org or call Safe Kids Grand Forks at 701-780-1489. 
Expressing Gratitude To Our Summer
Bike Donation Programs
Each year, we are blessed with generous companies, service clubs and individuals that provide bikes for kids in our community that would otherwise not have one. This year, Safe Kids Grand Forks was able to partner with Cummins, the Grand Forks Optimists Club and private individuals that donate through Calvary Lutheran Church in an effort called Kids’ Bike Adventure. In total, over 120 bikes where donated to kids in our community along with a helmet and bike lock. We were happy to help with this distribution and could fit helmets to the kids correctly and adjusted the bikes to the proper fit for each child. Thank you also to United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Area who connected us with the employees of Cummins to execute their giveaway.
Thank you, Grand Forks Optimist Club
Thank you for the donation that you recently provided to Safe Kids Grand Forks from the “Keep the Ball Rolling” event that your club hosted. The Grand Forks Optimist Club has always been a “friend of youth” and we thank you for supporting our work in so many ways.
The following product notifications were recently issued by Kids In Danger, a non-profit company fighting for safe product design.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about the dangers of Fisher-Price and Kids2 rockers after 14 reported infant deaths. At least 13 infants died between 2009 and 2021 in Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers, and at least one infant died in a Kids2 Bright Starts Rocker in 2009.

Parents and caregivers should not use inclined products such as rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings for infant sleep and should not leave infants in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with bedding material due to the risk of suffocation.

Babies sleep safest on their back, and on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet or play yard that meets a federal standard, with only a fitted sheet. 

Thanks, Sea Tow Foundation
For the Life Jacket Loaner Station
Thanks to a grant from the Sea Tow Foundation, Safe Kids Grand Forks was able to install a life jacket loaner station at the Tolna Dam Recreational Area this past summer.

The station will be taken in during the winter months but will become a permanent part of the Tolna Dam Recreational Area.

This is located along ND Highway 15 between Tolna and Pekin in Nelson County. Currently, the station has 2 of each sized life jackets including:
Under 30 pounds, 30-50 pounds, 50-90 pounds, 90 pounds and above.
These life jackets are labeled and intended to be used by boaters, fishermen or swimmers and then returned to the station at the end of the day so that others in need of one can have them available.
We are grateful to the Tolna Dam for hosting this site and hope that folks will use the life jackets when they are on, in or near the water to prevent drowning.

A special thanks also to the Sea Tow Foundation for the donation of the signage, station stand and the life jackets.
ATV injuries are on the rise in our part of
the country and we especially see an increase in them during the summer months.
Safe Kids Grand Forks, along with our supporting partner AgCounty, have done a considerable amount of education on this topic this spring and summer. Beginning with the UND College of Nursing students that assisted with launching ATV safety materials as part of their coursework to our presence at community events and farm camps and radio interviews conducted this summer, we hope that we have raised awareness to the dangers of ATVs, especially for youth. During the summer months, we were delighted to partner with our fellow Safe Kids coalitions in North Dakota, including Safe Kids Minot, Safe Kids Fargo-Moorhead and Safe Kids Bismarck-Mandan to conduct a social media campaign around ATV safety. Together, our partners hope that parents and caregivers will become educated on the dangers these large machined pose to children and youth and learn about steps to make using them safer.
From Our Partners
Safe Kids Grand Forks | 701.780.1489 | safekids@altru.org | safekidsgf.com
School Bus